ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!

By: Thomas Ström4/6/18

A truckload of plastic is emptied in the oceans every minute

I enjoy to be at and around the sea, which means that a lot of my free time evolves around boating and vacation homes in the archipelago.
But in recent years, this amazing environment has changed dramatically. The problem spells PLASTIC.
Every spring I see an unbelievable amount of plastic floating around and pouring up on our beaches. And this year it's more than ever.
It's completely insane.

According to the World Wild Fund for Nature, eight million tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans every year. That corresponds to a truck load per minute!
Now is the time to do something about it.
Stop discarding waste and especially plastic in our ocean and our nature.

Aside from the fact that it looks awful, it has a huge negative impact on our nature and environment. If we continue down this road, there will be more plastic than fish in our seas by the year of 2050. That’s in about 30 years.

Some marine animals, such as sea turtles, eat plastic bags in the belief that there are jellyfish. Fish get stuck in stray fish nets and are suffocated to death, while birds get stuck in various plastic articles and die. The list goes on and on.

Over time, I am convinced we will establish that people as well are dying as a consequence of all the plastic in our oceans. This is due to two reasons: microplastics and less oxygen production.

Last autumn, I took part of a survey that showed that 83 percent of the world's drinking water is contaminated with microplastics. At the same time, the fish we eat also ingest these small plastic particles. In their hunt for plankton, they are fooled to eat loads of microplastics in the passing. Nobody knows how plastic will affect humans. But what do you think? How could it be a good thing to ingest plastic? What types of diseases could be developed in our bodies?
I am sure that science will answer these questions within a few years. Unfortunately, I do not think the answers will be positive.

In the long run, there is also a risk that the plastic will contribute to the algae in the oceans dying, which would cause even more complications.

I recently came across a publication by Angela Wulff, Professor of Marine Ecology at the Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences with the University of Gothenburg. It was only after reading it that I realised that nearly half of the oxygen in our atmosphere comes from the sea and its algae.
The question is what happens if the algae die and the oxygen production is cut in half?

No, it is time to stop using plastic bags and disposable items as far as possible.
And if you do have to use them, for God's sake - make sure that they do not end up in our waters!